Hi Brian. Thank you for sharing more of your thoughts on disgust and introducing some ideas related to fear. I really appreciate your sentiment about the importance of providing unfamiliar and uncomfortable opportunities for students both in and outside the confines of school and how this relates to disgust. I suspect that the ice bucket activity in thermal physics and compost observation are meaningful experiences that will stick with your students into their adult lives. As I’ve gotten older, I definitely see the value of engaging in artistic and service endeavors for communities outside of school and love the examples you brought up. That being said, I want to offer a belated thanks for your leadership and dedication to service learning at CWS. This was a great initiative and I hope the school is continuing it.
Thanks for your continued encouragement Katie, it means a lot! Yes, the service learning program was a passion of mine when I was at CWS. As I remember we had four times in the year when we went to our service sites. If it had been up to be, it would have 20 days a year or more! This is something I puzzle over a lot, that while many people individually acknowledge the value of service to the community, when it comes down to the school "giving up time" to do it (which implies that what the kids should REALLY be doing is sitting in classrooms learning content,) it becomes like pulling teeth to get that time. I've experienced this repeatedly in so many schools. It's a deep misalignment in my opinion, related to the School is Broken dialogue.
Thinking about disgust in this larger context of things that make us uncomfortable or that push our boundaries is helpful. It makes me think about how I can identify the places where I have a developed aesthetic sense and where I have phobias that I should push through. Disgust is often such a knee jerk reaction. It's interesting to think about how emotions "pair up" to create responses as well.
Hi Brian. Thank you for sharing more of your thoughts on disgust and introducing some ideas related to fear. I really appreciate your sentiment about the importance of providing unfamiliar and uncomfortable opportunities for students both in and outside the confines of school and how this relates to disgust. I suspect that the ice bucket activity in thermal physics and compost observation are meaningful experiences that will stick with your students into their adult lives. As I’ve gotten older, I definitely see the value of engaging in artistic and service endeavors for communities outside of school and love the examples you brought up. That being said, I want to offer a belated thanks for your leadership and dedication to service learning at CWS. This was a great initiative and I hope the school is continuing it.
Thanks for your continued encouragement Katie, it means a lot! Yes, the service learning program was a passion of mine when I was at CWS. As I remember we had four times in the year when we went to our service sites. If it had been up to be, it would have 20 days a year or more! This is something I puzzle over a lot, that while many people individually acknowledge the value of service to the community, when it comes down to the school "giving up time" to do it (which implies that what the kids should REALLY be doing is sitting in classrooms learning content,) it becomes like pulling teeth to get that time. I've experienced this repeatedly in so many schools. It's a deep misalignment in my opinion, related to the School is Broken dialogue.
Thinking about disgust in this larger context of things that make us uncomfortable or that push our boundaries is helpful. It makes me think about how I can identify the places where I have a developed aesthetic sense and where I have phobias that I should push through. Disgust is often such a knee jerk reaction. It's interesting to think about how emotions "pair up" to create responses as well.